Tag: 2019 hugo awards

I started this post just after the Hugo Award Ceremony last year, but got busy and didn’t finish until now. So while we wait for this year’s finalist announcement, let’s take one last look at the results from 2019.

On August 18th, Dublin 2019 – An Irish Worldcon presented the 2019 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Here are the winners, the finalists in the order they placed, and the longlist of nominees. The number in parentheses indicates the finalist’s place at the nomination stage.

The Hugo Awards Ceremony will take place on August 18th at 8 pm IST (UTC +1) in Dublin, Ireland. Live video streaming will be available on Vimeo. Live text coverage will be provided at the Hugo Awards website. (I believe both will still be available after the live event as well.) I may continue to blog about the individual categories, but I’ll post my full ballot now to keep myself honest!

There were so many good finalists this year that it was difficult yet pleasant task to rank them. I was often surprised by which ones ended up in the bottom ranks. I kept reminding myself that they’re still above all those nominated but not on the ballot and all those eligible but overlooked. In many cases, I’ll be happy to see any one of them win. Which finalists are you rooting for?

In Best Short Story, we have two past Hugo winners, two authors with two Hugo nominations apiece this year, and two stories which have been fellow finalists for four awards.

“The Court Magician” by Sarah Pinsker is also a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Nebula and Locus awards. This is Pinsker’s third Hugo nomination; she now has one for each short fiction category. She has previously won the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial awards.

“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society” by T. Kingfisher is Ursula Vernon’s first Hugo nomination under this pseudonym and her fourth overall. She’s received both Hugo and Nebula awards for her short fiction and another Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. She’s been a finalist for the World Fantasy and Locus awards as well as the WSFS (now Lodestar) Award for Best Young Adult Book.

“STET” by Sarah Gailey was also a finalist for the Locus Award. Gailey has previous Hugo nominations for Best Novella and Best Related Work and won a Hugo for Best Fan Writer. They have been nominated for the Nebula as well and were a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2017.

“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat” by Brooke Bolander is one of two Hugo nominations for the author this year. Her novelette, The Only Harmless Great Thing, has already won the Nebula and Locus awards, was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and Theodore Sturgeon awards, and is also currently a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy and British Fantasy awards. She has two previous Hugo nominations for short fiction.

The only story I hadn’t read before the finalists were announced was “STET” by Sarah Gailey. Both it and “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington” by P. Djèlí Clark were more intriguing for the way their stories were told than the stories themselves. Alix E. Harrow’s heartwarming “A Witch’s Guide to Escape” was the one I nominated myself. Sarah Pinsker told a thought-provoking coming-of-age tale in “The Court Magician.” “The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society” by T. Kingfisher and “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters” by Brooke Bolander were both really fun stories with a feminist twist.

In Best Novelette, there are four first-time Hugo finalists, one four-time Hugo finalist, and a previous Hugo winner.

“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again” by Zen Cho is her first Hugo nomination. Cho’s debut novel, Sorcerer to the Crown, was a finalist for the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. It also earned her the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer. She was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2013.

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections” by Tina Connolly was also a finalist for the Nebula and Locus awards. It is Connolly’s first Hugo nomination. She has been a finalist for the World Fantasy and Andre Norton awards as well.

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” by Daryl Gregory was also a finalist for the Locus and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial awards. It is Gregory’s first Hugo nomination. He has previously received the World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson awards. His other nominations include the Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, and Philip K. Dick awards.

The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander has already won the Nebula and Locus awards, was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and Theodore Sturgeon awards, and is also currently a finalist for the World Fantasy and British Fantasy awards. Bolander’s short story “The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat” is a Hugo finalist this year as well. She has two previous Hugo nominations for short fiction.

“The Thing About Ghost Stories” by Naomi Kritzer is her second Hugo appearance. In 2016, Kritzer’s short story “Cat Pictures Please” won the Hugo and Locus awards and was a finalist for the Nebula Award.

“When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller was also a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. It is Heller’s first Hugo nomination.

“When We Were Starless” was my own nominee, and the world-building impressed me enough to nominate Simone Heller herself for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Since this was her final year of eligibility for that and she didn’t make the ballot there, I was very pleased to see her story here. I didn’t manage to read Brooke Bolander’s The Only Harmless Great Thing until after Hugo nominations closed. But I would definitely have nominated it if I had. Although I had read the others and found them memorable and touching, they weren’t ones I chose for my nomination ballot.

Here’s how I voted on the final ballot:

“When We Were Starless” by Simone Heller

The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander

“The Thing About Ghost Stories” by Naomi Kritzer

“If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again” by Zen Cho

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” by Daryl Gregory

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections” by Tina Connolly

Will Bolander’s novelette complete a Triple Crown of SFF awards? Will one of its fellow finalists from other awards come out ahead here instead? Or will the winner be one of those that the other awards missed? Any thoughts?

The Best Novella ballot looks somewhat familiar as four out of six finalists are sequels to finalists from previous years.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells has already won the Locus Award and was a finalist for the Nebula. It’s a sequel to last year’s winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards and Philip K. Dick Award finalist, All Systems Red. The two subsequent novellas from the Murderbot Diaries series were also award finalists: Rogue Protocol for the Locus Award and Exit Strategy for the BSFA Award. Last year Wells was a Hugo finalist in Best Series for The Books of the Raksura as well. Her previous nominations for the Nebula and Locus awards were back in the 1990’s.

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire is also a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. It’s a sequel to 2017’s winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Every Heart a Doorway, and last year’s finalist for the Hugo and Locus awards, Down Among the Sticks and Bones. McGuire’s October Daye series, which was a Hugo finalist for Best Series in 2017, makes a return appearance this year. Her InCryptid series was one of the finalists last year. She also has two Hugo nominations for Best Novelette and one for Best Related Work. Under her Mira Grant pseudonym, she has four Hugo nominations for Best Novel and two more for Best Novella. She’s won two Hugos for Best Fancast as a co-host of SF Squeecast and received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2010.

Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor is also a finalist for the British Fantasy Award. It’s a sequel to 2016’s winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Binti, and last year’s finalist for the Hugo and Locus awards, Binti: Home. As a writer for the graphic novel Black Panther: Long Live the King, Okorafor is a finalist in Best Graphic Story this year as well. Last year the second novel in her Akata Witch series, Akata Warrior, was the winner of both the Locus and WSFS (now Lodestar) awards for Best Young Adult Book. She has also won the World Fantasy Award, and her other nominations include the Andre Norton, Clarke, British Fantasy, BSFA, Tiptree, Campbell Memorial, and Sturgeon awards.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark is also a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Nebula and Locus awards. His short story, “The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” is a Hugo finalist, has already won the Nebula and Locus awards, and was a finalist for the Sturgeon Award.

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson was also a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon awards. Robson was previously nominated for the World Fantasy Award and was a finalist for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2017.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard is also currently a finalist for the World Fantasy and British Fantasy awards, has already won the Nebula Award, and was a finalist for the Locus Award. It is part of the Universe of Xuya series which is a Hugo finalist for Best Series as well. She has one additional Hugo nomination for Best Novella, three for Best Novelette, and one for Best Short Story. She has received one other Nebula Award, four BSFA Awards, and a Locus Award. Her other nominations include the Tiptree and Sturgeon awards. She was a finalist for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2009.

Three of the finalists were my own nominees. Beneath the Sugar Skies was another delightful entry in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, and Cora might be my favorite wayward child yet. Kelly Robson’s Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach enthralled me enough with its world building and characterization that I forgave its abrupt ending. Aliette de Bodard did an excellent job combining Holmesian mystery with the space opera of her Xuya Universe in The Tea Master and the Detective.

I had already read two of the remaining three finalists before nominations closed. Since Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti: The Night Masquerade picks up mid-story where Binti: Home left off, I didn’t feel that it stood on its own well enough to consider as a separate novella. The Black God’s Drums very nearly made my ballot, and I hope we see more of the alternate history setting P. Djèlí Clark gave us a glimpse of here. If I had managed to get to Artificial Condition before the deadline, it definitely would have been on my ballot. But I’m not surprised that at least one of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries made it without needing any help from me.

Here’s how I decided to rank them on my final ballot:

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

Will Binti, Murderbot, or the Wayward Children take home another Hugo? Will the Xuya Universe add a rocket to its award collection? Or will one of the first-time Hugo finalists win instead? What would you like to see?

Hugo voting closed on Aug 1st, and we’ll find out the winners at the Hugo Award Ceremony on August 18th. Let’s take a look at the contenders for Best Novel.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal has already won the Nebula and the Locus Award for Best SF Novel and was also a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. “Lady Astronaut of Mars,” a novelette in the same setting, won a Hugo in 2014. Kowal has three additional Hugo nominations for short fiction with one more win. In Best Related Work, she’s been a three-time finalist with one win as a co-host of the Writing Excuses podcast. She was the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers is the third novel in the Wayfarers series, which is also a finalist this year. The first book, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Society’s Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer. The second, A Closed and Common Orbit, was a finalist for the Hugo, British Science Fiction Association, and Clarke awards. This one was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best SF Novel as well.

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee is the third novel in the Machineries of Empire series. The previous two novels were also Hugo finalists, and the series itself is a finalist this year as well. The first book, Ninefox Gambit, won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Nebula and Clarke awards. The second, Raven Stratagem, was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best SF Novel. This one was also a finalist for the Locus, BSFA, and Clarke awards. Lee has had short fiction nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial awards as well.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente was also a finalist for the Locus and the Campbell Memorial awards. Valente has four previous Hugo nominations in the fiction categories, one nomination for Best Semiprozine as editor of Apex Magazine, and two wins in Best Fancast as a co-host of SF Squeecast. She’s previously won five Locus Awards as well as the Andre Norton, James Tiptree, and Theodore Sturgeon awards. Her other nominations include the Nebula, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy awards.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik has already won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Mythopoeic Award. It was also a finalist for the Nebula Award. Novik has two previous Hugo nominations for Best Novel and one for Best Series. She’s also received two additional Locus Awards, won the Nebula and British Fantasy awards, and been nominated for the World Fantasy Award. She was the winner of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2007.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse has already won the Locus Award for Best First Novel, was a finalist for the Nebula Award, and is also currently a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Last year her short story, “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian ExperienceTM,” won the Hugo and Nebula awards and was nominated for the World Fantasy, Locus, and Sturgeon awards. She was also the winner of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Four out of the six were my own nominees. Spinning Silver improved on everything I loved about Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. Revenant Gun brought Yoon Ha Lee’s trilogy to a very satisfying conclusion. The Calculating Stars was the first novel-length work I had read by Mary Robinette Kowal. I was impressed by the characterization and surprised by how well she made a 1950’s setting seem current and relevant. Rebecca Roanhorse delivered on the promise of her Best New Writer Campbell win with the fascinating and original world building in Trail of Lightning.

The remaining two were both books I had wanted to read but simply hadn’t gotten to yet. I liked Record of a Spaceborn Few slightly less than Becky Chamber’s first two Wayfarer books, but it was still very good. Space Opera was entertaining, but Catherynne M. Valente’s dense writing style made it a slower read than expected. I adore her short fiction, but at novel-length it became overwhelming.

Here’s how it shook out on my final ballot:

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

Will Kowal complete the Triple Crown of science fiction awards? Will the Big One go to one of the previous Best Novel finalists instead? Or does the debut novelist take home her second rocket? What do you think?

The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard is one of the Best Series finalists for the 2019 Hugo Awards. As this point, there are 28 pieces of short fiction (3 novellas, 11 novelettes, and 14 short stories). Since the main connection between them is the setting, they can be read independently and in any order. Take a look at the author’s webpage about the series for suggestions on where to start and background information. Here is everything so far (in the order listed on her site) with links to online stories, publication info, and award recognition received:

“The Jaguar House, in Shadow”, novelette, originally published in Asimov’s, Jul 2010; podcast available at StarShipSofa, No. 200 (audio only); finalist for the Hugo and Nebula awards

“Immersion”, short story, Clarkesworld, issue 69 (Jun 2012); winner of the Nebula and Locus awards; finalist for the BSFA, Hugo, and Sturgeon awards

On a Red Station, Drifting, novella, originally published as a limited edition hardcover (Immersion Press 2012), now available in ebook and paperback (self-published); finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards

“The Waiting Stars”, novelette, originally published in The Other Half of the Sky, eds. Athena Andreadis and Kay Holt (Candlemark & Gleam 2013); available online at the author’s website; Nebula Award winner, finalist for the Hugo and Locus awards

The Tea Master and the Detective, novella, originally published as a limited edition hardcover (Subterranean Press 2018), now available in ebook (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency 2018) and paperback (JABberwocky Literary Agency 2019); finalist for the Nebula and Hugo awards

The finalists for the 2019 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer were announced last week. The winners will be presented on August 18th at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon.

Four of the novels are my own nominees, and I had already planned to read the books by Becky Chambers and Catherynne M. Valente. The Calculating Stars and Trail of Lightning are first in series. Valente recently revealed that there will be a sequel to Space Opera called Space Oddity. Spinning Silver is in a similar vein to Naomi Novik’s previous novel Uprooted, but it isn’t actually connected in any way.

Record of a Spaceborn Few and Revenant Gun are both the third books in their respective series. I’ve heard that all three of Chambers’ Wayfarers books can be read independently. I know I read the second on its own without feeling lost. Revenant Gun, on the other hand, definitely depends on reading the first two. Although since they were previous finalists, those who have been voting in the Hugos for the past couple years have likely read them already.

The Tea Master and the Detective, by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency)

My nominees included the novellas by Seanan McGuire, Kelly Robson, and Aliette de Bodard. I only just read Artificial Condition after nominations closed. If I had read it beforehand, I probably would have nominated it. I definitely considered nominating The Black God’s Drums. For now, I believe it’s the only one here that isn’t part of a series, though I wouldn’t mind reading more about this world.

All three Binti novellas have now been finalists with the first one winning the trophy. That one stood alone, but neither Binti: Home nor this one can be read on its own. They now seem more like a three-part serialized novel. Artificial Condition, Beneath the Sugar Sky, and The Tea Master and the Detective are all also part of series. I feel they could each be read on their own, but you’ll get more out of them if you’re already familiar with their settings. Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach is set in the same universe as some of Robson’s other stories but introduces us to previously unseen characters and places. However, the abrupt ending certainly makes me hope it’s the start of a longer story.

Out of these, Simone Heller’s novelette was my nominee. As with Artificial Condition in novella, I didn’t read The Only Harmless Great Thing until after nominations closed, or I probably would have nominated it too. Any of the rest would have been good choices as well.

Here I nominated Alix E. Harrow’s story, and the only one I haven’t read yet is “STET” by Sarah Gailey. The stories by T. Kingfisher and Brooke Bolander are both extremely fun, and the remaining two are also really good.

The Universe of Xuya, by Aliette de Bodard (most recently Subterranean Press)

Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)

My own nominees included Machineries of Empire and The Universe of Xuya. I’ve read at least one work from each of the others and have been meaning to continue with them. I haven’t actually read everything from Aliette de Bodard’s series either. With nothing longer than a novella so far, I believe the Xuya stories can be read independently and in any order. Published in quite a few different magazines and anthologies over the years, it would be difficult to find all of them at this point. I look forward to seeing if any of those I’ve missed might be included in the voters packet.

Here my nominees included Astounding and An Informal History of the Hugos. I haven’t read the Ursula K. Le Guin book yet, and I hadn’t heard of the The Hobbit Duology before now. I knew about The Mexicanx Initiative, but I’m not sure how to evaluate the whole campaign as a related work. I was also aware that people have been trying to get the Archive of Our Own project nominated for a while now. However, I don’t really understand how to look at the current 2019 website, the culmination of a decade of development, and consider it as a 2018 work. Hopefully what they put together for the voters packet will help clarify things for me.

In contrast to DP Long Form, I’ve seen all of these. The Expanse episode, Dirty Computer, and “Janets(s)” from The Good Place were my own nominees. I nominated the Thirteenth Doctor’s first episode, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” rather than one of these two.

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Neil Clarke

Gardner Dozois

Lee Harris

Julia Rios

Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

E. Catherine Tobler

Here my nominees included Neil Clarke and Gardner Dozois. Julia Rios, editor of Fireside, E. Catherine Tobler, editor of Shimmer, and the Thomases, editors of Uncanny, are all also finalists for semiprozine.

Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Sheila E. Gilbert

Anne Lesley Groell

Beth Meacham

Diana Pho

Gillian Redfearn

Navah Wolfe

I usually nominate the editors of my best novel picks here. This year I added the additional caveat of confirming that they had at least the requisite four novel-length works. Out of all the editors of my novel and YA Book nominees, Anne Lesley Groell was the only one that I could definitely determine had cleared that bar. She was my sole nominee in this category.

Best Professional Artist

Galen Dara

Jaime Jones

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Yuko Shimizu

Charles Vess

For this category, I’m pleased to see first-time finalists Jaime Jones, Yuko Shimizu, and Charles Vess. I’m especially thrilled about Charles Vess. He was my own nominee, and he’s long overdue for Hugo recognition.

I don’t usually listen to podcasts, and none of my BookTube nominees made the ballot. Last year one of them did make the longlist. Hopefully they’ll break through to the shortlist in the next year or two.

Best Fan Writer

Foz Meadows

James Davis Nicoll

Charles Payseur

Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

Alasdair Stuart

Bogi Takács

My nominees for this category included Charles Payseur. Elsa Sjunneson-Henry and Alasdair Stuart are names we haven’t seen on the ballot before.

Each Worldcon is allowed to create a special Hugo category in addition to the regular ongoing categories. This is what Dublin 2019 has chosen to do. My nominees included The Books of Earthsea and Spectrum 25.

The following awards are determined by the same process and are presented along with the Hugos, but their winners received something other than a shiny rocket.

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Katherine Arden

S.A. Chakraborty

R.F. Kuang

Jeannette Ng

Vina Jie-Min Prasad

Rivers Solomon

All but S.A. Chakraborty and R.F Kuang are returning finalists from last year, and only R.F. Kuang is in her first year of eligibility for this award. I nominated Katherine Arden.

The first four are the first book in a series. The Invasion is the second book in a duology, the sequel to The Call. Tess of the Road is set in the same world as Rachel Hartman’s previous books Seraphina and Shadow Scale, but I’ve heard that you can start with this one. I nominated The Belles, Children of Blood and Bone, and Dread Nation.

With at least one of my nominees in all but two categories, I’m pretty happy with the outcome of the nomination phase. What are your thoughts on the finalists? Did your favorites make the list?

The nomination period for the 2019 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer closed last Friday night. They plan to announce the finalists in early April, and the winners will be presented on August 18th at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon. Here are my selections: